Method for voice assistant, location tagging, multi-media capture, transmission, speech to text conversion, photo/video image/object recognition, creation of searchable metatags/contextual tags, storage and search retrieval

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a network interface device. A first capture device interfaces with a first external information source to capture first external information. A processor processes the captured first external information and stores it in a first media. The processor initiates the storage of the first captured information at an initial time and completes storage of the first captured information at a completion time, thus providing a stored defined set of first captured information. A transmitter transmits the defined set of stored captured information to a remote location on a network. A remote processing system is disposed at the remote node on the network and includes a database and a receiver for receiving the transmitted defined set of first captured information. A data converter is operable to convert the received defined set of first captured information to a second format. The database stores the set of converted captured information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/358,455, filed on Mar. 19, 2019, entitled METHOD FOR VOICE ASSISTANT,LOCATION TAGGING, MULTI-MEDIA CAPTURE, TRANSMISSION, SPEECH TO TEXTCONVERSION, PHOTO/VIDEO IMAGE/OBJECT RECOGNITION, CREATION OF SEARCHABLEMETATAGS/CONTEXTUAL TAGS, STORAGE AND SEARCH RETRIEVAL (Atty. Dkt. No.MPOR60-34549), which is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 15/824,087, filed on Nov. 28, 2017, entitled APPARATUS FOR VOICEASSISTANT, LOCATION TAGGING, MULTI-MEDIA CAPTURE, TRANSMISSION, SPEECHTO TEXT CONVERSION, PHOTO/VIDEO IMAGE/OBJECT RECOGNITION, CREATION OFSEARCHABLE METATAGS/CONTEXTUAL TAGS, STORAGE AND SEARCH RETRIEVAL, nowU.S. Pat. No. 10,237,067, issued Mar. 19, 2019 (Atty. Dkt. No.MPOR-33823). Application Ser. No. 15/824,087 is a Continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 15/272,013, filed on Sep. 21, 2016, entitledAPPARATUS FOR PERSONAL VOICE ASSISTANT, LOCATION SERVICES, MULTI-MEDIACAPTURE, TRANSMISSION, SPEECH TO TEXT CONVERSION, PHOTO/VIDEOIMAGE/OBJECT RECOGNITION, CREATION OF SEARCHABLE METATAG(S)/CONTEXTUALTAG(S), STORAGE AND SEARCH RETRIEVAL, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,832,017,issued Nov. 28, 2017 (Atty. Dkt. No. MPOR-33317). Application Ser. No.15/272,013 is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/660,166,filed Mar. 17, 2015, and entitled METHOD FOR PERSONAL VOICE ASSISTANT,LOCATION SERVICES, MULTI-MEDIA CAPTURE, TRANSMISSION, SPEECH CONVERSION,METATAGS CREATION, STORAGE AND SEARCH RETRIEVAL (Atty. Dkt. No.MPOR-32495). U.S. application Ser. No. 14/660,166 is a Continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/965,625, filed Aug. 13, 2013, andentitled METHOD FOR VOICE COMMAND ACTIVATION, MULTI-MEDIA CAPTURE,TRANSMISSION, SPEECH CONVERSION, METATAGS CREATION, STORAGE AND SEARCHRETRIEVAL, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,983,119, issued on Mar. 17, 2015 (Atty.Dkt. No. MPOR-31788). U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/965,625 is aContinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/417,229, filed onMar. 10, 2012, and entitled METHOD FOR MULTI-MEDIA CAPTURE,TRANSMISSION, CONVERSION, METATAGS CREATION, STORAGE AND SEARCHRETRIEVAL, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,509,477, issued on Aug. 13, 2013 (Atty.Dkt. No. MPOR-31064), the specifications of which are incorporated byreference herein.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/417,229 is a Continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/857,358, filed on Aug. 16, 2010, andentitled METHOD FOR MULTI-MEDIA CONVERSION, METATAGS CREATION, STORAGEAND SEARCH RETRIEVAL, published as U.S. Patent Application PublicationNo. US 2010/0303288, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,135,169, issued on Mar. 13,2012 (Atty. Dkt. No. MPOR-30156). U.S. Patent Application PublicationNo. 2010/0303288 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,135,169 are incorporated byreference herein.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/857,358 is a Continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/621,062, filed on Jan. 8, 2007, andentitled METHOD FOR MULTI-MEDIA RECOGNITION, DATA CONVERSION, CREATIONOF METATAGS, STORAGE AND SEARCH RETRIEVAL, published as U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. U.S. 2007/0150517, now U.S. Pat. No.7,778,438, issued on Aug. 17, 2010 (Atty. Dkt. No. MPOR-28133). U.S.Patent Application Publication No. U.S. 2007/0150517 and U.S. Pat. No.7,778,438 are incorporated by reference herein.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/621,062 is a Continuation-in-Part ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/325,373, filed Jan. 4, 2006, andentitled APPARATUS FOR CAPTURING INFORMATION AS A FILE AND ENHANCING THEFILE WITH EMBEDDED INFORMATION, published as U.S. Patent ApplicationPublication No. U.S. 2006/0115111, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,184,573, issuedon Feb. 27, 2007 (Atty. Dkt. No. MPOR-27243). Application Ser. No.11/621,062 claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/757,075, filed on Jan. 6, 2006, and entitled APPARATUS AND METHOD FOREMBEDDING META-TAGS INTO MEDIA FILES (Atty. Dkt. No. MPOR-27490). U.S.Patent Application Publication No. U.S. 2006/0115111 and U.S. Pat. No.7,184,573 are incorporated by reference herein.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/325,373 is a Continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/674,910, filed Sep. 29, 2003, andentitled FORENSIC COMMUNICATION APPARATUS AND METHOD, published as U.S.Patent Application Publication No. U.S. 2004/0125208, now U.S. Pat. No.6,996,251, issued on Feb. 7, 2006 (Atty. Dkt. No. MPOR-26491).Application Ser. No. 10/674,910 claims benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 60/414,449, filed Sep. 30, 2002, and entitled FORENSICCOMMUNICATION APPARATUS AND METHOD. U.S. Patent Application PublicationNo. U.S. 2004/0125208, U.S. Pat. No. 6,996,251, and U.S. Application No.60/414,449 are incorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to the storage and search retrieval of all typesof digital media files, whether music or other audio, still photographs,videos, movies or other types of media.

BACKGROUND

The popularity of digital media devices such as digital cameras, videocameras, mobile phones with audio and video recording capability andportable music devices that have recording capability has exploded inrecent years. Instead of recording pictures, video and sound on physicalmedia, modern devices record to rewritable memory devices. This meansthat the cost to create a new image, movie or audio recording has fallento near zero, making the number of these recordings available in anygiven individual's library skyrocket.

But this new ability to store virtually unlimited numbers of media filesintroduces new problems. First, the sheer number makes it nearlyimpossible to manually describe and index every media file in one'spossession. This means that, for many, photographs, movies and audiorecordings are kept in poorly organized computer files and finding anyparticular picture, movie or recording is a difficult and time-consumingprocess.

The second problem is the fact that people typically trade up to a newcomputer every three years or so. This means that hours of video,thousands of pictures or hundreds of audio files must be transferredfrom the old system to the new—a sometimes daunting task.

A third problem is one can typically access locally stored media filesonly on the computer on which they reside. If one wishes to share thefile with another one must typically employ some file-transfer methodahead of time (email, FTP, public server, etc.)

A fourth problem relates to e-mailing or sending your media files toanother party, whereas the receiving party is not able to search themedia files for the specific key indexes that the original owner hadintended. While there are programs to allow the originator to type inkey index words (tags) for searching and retrieving these media filesfrom their personal computer, when these media files are e-mailed orsent to another party, these tags are removed from the media file,therefore the receiving party does not have an ability to search, sort,display, play or print these media files based on the original ownerskey indexes.

Finally, those who make a living providing content need some method forproving that a given work belongs to them, and that they are theoriginal creator of the work.

SUMMARY

The present invention disclosed and claimed in one aspect thereof asystem for capturing data in a first media and storing in a database ata remote location on a network. A network interface device is providedhaving a first capture device interfacing with a first externalinformation source that generates external information and capturing thefirst external information during generation thereof. A processor isprovided for processing the captured first external information andstoring it in a first media format as stored first captured informationwithin the network interface device, the processor initiating thestorage of the first captured information as stored first capturedinformation at an initial time and completes storage of the firstcaptured information as stored first captured information at acompletion time, thus providing a stored defined set of first capturedinformation representing the first captured information between theinitial time and the completion time. A transmitter is provided fortransmitting as a transmitted defined set of first captured informationthe defined set of stored captured information to a remote location on anetwork after the completion time. A remote processing system isdisposed at the remote node on the network and includes a database and areceiver for receiving the transmitted defined set of first capturedinformation from the transmitter associated with the network interfacedevice as a received defined set of first captured information. A dataconverter is operable to convert the received defined set of firstcaptured information to a second format as a set of converted firstcaptured information, the second format different than the first mediaformat, the second format being a searchable format. The database thenstores the set of converted captured information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention and theadvantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of the overall operation of thesystem in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of one embodiment of the overalloperation of the system in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of another embodiment of the overalloperation of the system in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of the file management of the systemin accordance with the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a block diagram of theoverall operation of the system in accordance with the presentdisclosure. The invention is best described by beginning with thecapture device 100.

Still pictures, moving pictures, audio, telemetry or other information(hereafter called simply, “information”) is gathered by the dataconverter 102 and organized into one “data element” 104 consisting of asingle picture, a movie/video clip, an audio clip, a sample of telemetrydata or other logical grouping of related information. The dataconverter 102 can be any type of data capture information. For pictures,a digital camera can be utilized and, for movie/video clips, the dataconverter can be a digital video recorder (DVR). In general, the dataconverter is any type of device that will capture the information andplace it in some type of digitized format. As will be understood anddiscussed herein below, this digitized format is typically native to thedata converter and the manufacturer. Some manufacturers have aparticular file format in which they generate the information. This fileformat may have a designator as to the user, a sequence number or timestamp.

At the same time the data element is created by the capture device 100,certain other data (“meta data”) 106 is captured as well. This meta datamay include time and date 158, location 160, operator identification162, or other information deemed relevant to establish the context ofthe data element. The time, date and location may be taken from a GPSunit, or may be derived by time-domain analysis of certain types ofmobile phone signals or wireless network domains.

In some embodiments of this invention, it may be desirable to use atechnique known as steganography to permanently and indelibly embed themeta data directly into the data element. By using one of severalwell-known steganographic techniques, the data element can be subtlyaltered such that 1) it is difficult to determine that hiddeninformation is stored in the data element, and 2 even if it is knownthat hidden information is stored in the data element, retrieval withoutsome secret information (a “key”) is difficult. In this way, the dataelement can be guaranteed authentic even if stripped from external metadata.

Also, at the time of information capture, the capture device may gatheradditional information from the operator by means of a secondary dataconverter 108 that relates to defining the context of the data element.For example, after a camera/video recorder takes a picture/video, amicrophone (the secondary data converter) might capture the audiodescribing the image or the audio from the video just captured. This“context description element” 110 is stored along with the data elementand the meta data.

At this point, the capture device 100 has in its internal temporarystorage the data element, the meta data and optionally the contextdescription element. It now creates a composite data set using one of anumber of well-known algorithms for combining multiple data sets into asingle data set. For example, the well-known ZIP compression algorithmroutinely performs statistical compression on a number of input filesand creates a single output file such that, with the properdecompression algorithm, the original set of files can be recoveredwithout data loss. This “combine and compress” function 112 creates adata set called the “composite element.” 114.

The capture device now encrypts the composite element using any of anumber of well-known encryption algorithms. In the preferred embodiment,the composite element is first encrypted using a symmetricalcryptosystem 116 using a key 118 shared by the capture device and thestorage facility. The resulting “singly-encrypted element” 120 is thenhashed. “Hashing” 122 is a technique that generates a digital“signature” for a data set, such that any party wishing to verify thecorrectness of the data set can easily recalculate the hash and comparesit with the previously calculated hash. Hash algorithms have the furtherproperty that it is computationally difficult to find multiple data setsthat have the same hash value. This calculated hash value (“elementhash”) 124 becomes part of the meta data set that is to be associatedwith the data element.

It is now necessary for the capture device to contact the storagefacility over some communications medium. This communications medium 126can be any mechanism that permits near real-time, two-way communication.The specifics of the communication medium are not disclosed here, butcould comprise a wireless telephone network, the public switchedtelephone network, or the Internet. The capture device sends the metadata 106 (now consisting of the time, date, operator identification,image, video, audio, “context description element” 110, hash 122 andpossibly other data) to the storage facility 128.

The storage facility validates the meta data received from the capturedevice and, if authorized, combines and hashes 130 the received metadata and a secret number 132 known only to the storage facility. Thishash is appended to the original meta data set and is then returned tothe capture device as a “certificate.” 134 At a later time, thecertificate can be presented to the storage facility to determine if adata element is authentic.

The singly encrypted element 120 is now combined with the certificate134 and then is further encrypted using an asymmetrical cryptosystem 136under the public encryption key 164 of the storage facility 128,designated K_(SU). This new packet (the “transport packet”) 138 is nowready to transmit to the storage facility 128.

When it receives the transport packet 138, the storage facility 128first decrypts 140 the packet 138 using its private decryption key 166designated as K_(SR). This gives the storage facility 128 access to thecertificate 134 (which contains the meta data 106). The certificate canbe validated 142 by rehashing the meta data 106 and the secret number132. Unpacking the certificate 134, the storage facility 128 now knowsthe identity of the capture device 100, and can use this to retrieve thesecret, symmetrical key 118 under which the singly encrypted element 120is encrypted. The storage facility 128 now decrypts 149) the singlyencrypted element 120 to retrieve the composite element 114; thenexpands and recovers 150 the composite element to retrieve the dataelement 104, the meta data 106, and the context description element 110,if present.

Now, the storage facility 128 can store the data element 104 under theowner's account in its mass storage 144. The storage facility knows theowner's identity because it was disclosed in the meta data 106. Thestorage facility also adds “context tags” 146 by methods dependent onthe type of data that is being stored.

Context tags 146 are searchable elements derived from either the dataelement 104 itself or from the context description element 110. Forexample, if the data element 104 is a still photograph or video, thestorage facility may create context tags that describe elements of thescene or image(s), such as “animal,” or “dog,” or “Spot,” depending onthe mechanism that converts the information in the data element or thecontext description element into a tag.

It is equipment analyze the data elements (photograph, movie, audiorecording, etc.) and create 148 a set of appropriate tags. For audiofiles, this may include a speech-to-text algorithm; for still or movingimages, it may include image recognition and identification. Whateverthe method used, at the end of the process the set of data to storeincludes the data element 102, the context element 110, and meta data106 that now includes a set of searchable tags specific to that image,video, audio or other media. 146, presumed that, as image and voicerecognition improve; this task can be fully automated. Therefore, thepreferred embodiment of this invention is to have the task automated.

Retrieval of the data elements is performed from some access point 152remote from the storage facility 128. To retrieve data elements, aclient must prove to the storage facility that the client is authorizedto access the desired data element. This can be done in any number ofways, but in the preferred embodiment of the invention, it is a passwordchallenge. The access point 152 creates an authentication request 154and transmits the request via the communications medium 126 to thestorage facility 128. At the storage facility, the request isauthenticated 156. Once the challenge has been successfully met, theclient can access the data elements belonging to it. Details of theauthentication process may include password authentication, achallenge/response protocol, or may employ a hardware authenticationdevice.

Once the request for information has been authenticated, the storagefacility 128 reads the requested information from the bulk storagedevice 144 and encrypts 169) under the public key of the requester 168,designated as K_(CU). The encrypted data is then transmitted to theclient over the communications medium 126. Upon arrival, the message isdecrypted 172 under the client's private key 170 designated as K_(CR)and the data 174 is recovered.

Once the data has been retrieved, the tags may be edited or removed andnew tags added. Other meta data; particularly location and time and datecannot be changed.

Variations of the system include placing the ability to enter tags onthe data capture device itself. This could be in the form of a keypad, atouch screen or voice recognition software. If this option were taken,the data packet from the image capture device would include the tags inthe meta data rather than a context description element.

Another variation applies to highly secure applications in which it isdesirable to keep the data element 104 encrypted even while at thestorage facility. In this variation, the data element 104 is encryptedunder a symmetrical cryptosystem prior to combination with the meta data106 and the context description element 110. This variation precludesthe automatic extraction of tags from the data element itself, but stillpermits tagging based on the context description element.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is illustrated a diagrammatic view of theoverall operation of the system. In this system, the capture device 100is disclosed wherein the actual device that captured it, the device 102,is illustrated as being a digital camera. This has a lens 202 associatedtherewith, with the output of the camera being a digitized image 204.This is basically the data element 104 of FIG. 1. It can be seen thatthe element 204 is in a digitized format that is typically native to thecamera. This can be any type of video capture element for capturing animage 206.

Once the image is captured, it is stored in a data base 208. In additionto this information, various associated information such as audio,timestamp, GPS, location, etc. can be collected. One method forcollecting the audio information, for example, is to utilize amicrophone 210 that will capture the information and then digitize it ina digitizing block 212 utilizing an analog-to-digital converter, forexample. This not only converts it to a digital value but, further, willconvert it to a particular audio format such as a *.WAV file format.This particular file format is stored in the database 208. Of course,any other type of digital format could be utilized that is consistentwith an audio format. The GPS information for location can be collectedwith an external GPS system 218 and timestamp information can internallybe generated.

After all the information regarding the video information and the audioinformation, for example, is collected, it is stored in the database 208and then must be output therefrom. In this embodiment, there are twotypes of attached information that are to be embedded within the imageat a later time. The first set of information is the GPS information,the timestamp information, etc., that is collected automatically withany image. This information is created in a temporal relationship withrespect to that particular image at the time of the capture of the imageinformation. This location information, timestamp information, etc., isinformation that is unique to the photograph and defines that image.Further, user information can be provided which defines the userinformation that is associated with the capture device, i.e., thecamera. The additional information, the audio information, is providedin the form of comments and the such which can be stored. Therefore,when the data in the form of the image information is to be transmittedto the remote site, it is combined with the additional GPS, location,timestamp, etc., information and the audio input information.

There is typically provided a unique file format that defines thedigital image and this unique file name can be utilized to define all ofthe secondary information such that there is a unique association ofthat information with the image. Thereafter, a compress module 220 isprovided for compressing the information in a compressed file formatsuch as a *.ZIP file format. This is just a manner to transmit a numberof files together. However, at the reception point, when the files areextracted from this *.ZIP file, there must be some way to distinguishthe files and again associate them. This is done, for example, with aunique file naming structure. However, there could be other techniquesutilized to uniquely identify the association between these differentfiles.

Once this compressed file format is transmitted to the storage facility128, it is stored in a database 226. At this time there will be, forexample, a video clip or a video image (such as a still image) stored inassociation with the various information that is associated therewith.This, in effect, is a relational database that provides data storage inclose association with each other. The first thing that must be done isto extract the information from the data. This is done in a block 228wherein the associated information is extracted from the database, thisbeing the associated information, and then processed. Typically, theassociated information will be the audio information in the audio fileformat. This must be converted. One conversion that is provided for isto convert the audio formatted data to text data. Therefore, one type ofaudio-to-text converter can be a voice translation system. There aremany of these that are provided such as the Dragon Naturally Speakingsystems.

Once the text format has been provided, this is a converted tointermediate formatted data, i.e., text data, that can then be processedin a format that can be embedded within a video file or an image file.This can then be converted into HTML data or other data. This willtypically be formatted such that it can be defined as a meta tag forassociation with the video image. This meta tag is then combined withthe image in a block 230. Once combined, this will then be stored in thedatabase in association with the original raw video and raw audio files.Thereafter, there is an access and retrieval block 152 that can allowone to access the particular modified or “tagged” image via a search.There can be provided a search algorithm that searches all of the taggedimages. This searching can be performed based upon the GPS locationinformation, the timestamp information, the added audio commentinformation, etc. Any information that can be provided over and abovethe video information that was provided in all of the associatedinformation at the camera can then be searched, as this is theinformation that is contained in the appended information to the image.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is illustrated an alternate embodimentwherein substantially all of the combining operation is contained withinthe capture device 100 or the camera. Again, there is provided thecapture device 102 in the form of the camera that captures the image206. This is converted and stored in a database 306. The database 306 isbasically the combination of database 208 and the database 226.Initially, all of the information from the digital video image 204 andthe audio information and all other associated information such as theGPS information, timestamp, etc., are all stored in the database 306.There will be a corresponding process 308 for taking the associatedinformation and converting it into different information, i.e., a metatag, which is substantially the same as the process 228. Once theassociated process is combined it is converted into that format, then itcan be combined with the image in a process block 310, similar to theprocess block 230. Once this occurs, then there is provided a combinedvideo/image with meta data that can be transmitted. This is illustratedas the augmented image 316 which has meta data associated therewith.This is transmitted for storage at the storage facility in a database318. This is searchable through the access/retrieval process 152, asdescribed herein above.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is illustrated one exemplary embodimentof the file structure. The image 204 is a digitized image thatconstitutes a particular file folder that will have a particular videoor image format. This could be a JPEG format, an MPEG format or anyother type of video format. This is referred to as one having theextension *.VID (for generic purposes). The file format in thisembodiment will have a user ID section 402, a time/date stamp section404, a sequence number 406 and a device number 408. This will have theformat of XXX.AAAA.XXX.XXX.VID. The user ID section 402 will define theuser of the capture device, this typically being configurationinformation that is input to the system. The time/date stamp is time anddate information that can be taken from an internal clock or it can bederived from some external accurate time source. The sequence number 406is typically internally generated with a counter that represents aninternal sequence that is unique to a particular capture device.However, among different capture devices, the sequence could be thesame. The device section 408 is a unique device number given to aparticular device. Therefore, with the user ID information, thetime/date stamp, the sequence number and the device number, a veryunique file number will be generated. Further, the sequence and thetime/date information will be different for each file. Thereafter, theinformation retrieved from the GPS 218 will be disposed in a folder withan extension of, for example, *.GPS. This will be stored in the filefolder 208. The file numbering will be identical to the filenomenclature other than the extension will be identical to that of thedigitized video file. Similarly, the audio information will be stored ina file folder with an extension of, for example, *.WAV with the body ofthe file name being identical to that of the digitized video file. Thiswill all be stored in the database 208 and then combined in a compressedfolder of the *.ZIP type. The actual file name for this can be any typeof file name and it does not have to be identical or unique with respectto the name. However, there should be some type of unique file name inthat, a random filename could be duplicated by other capture devices.Thus, in the preferred embodiment of this disclosure, the unique body ofthe *.ZIP file will be identical to that associated with the filescontained therein such that this will have a filename of“XXX.AAAA.XXX.XXX.ZIP.” This is the file that is transmitted.

As a summary, the system of the present disclosure provides a system forcapturing, storing, indexing and retrieving data objects, which caninclude a capture device, a storage facility and an access point. Thesystem consists of a primary data converter, a secondary data converter,a meta data source, a data combiner and compressor, a symmetricalencryptor, a one-way hash function, an asymmetric encryptor, and acommunications port. The primary data converter captures some physicalphenomenon such as, but not limited to a still image, a moving image, asound, or some other factor, into a primary data set. The secondary dataconverter is capable of capturing some phenomenon into a secondary dataset, related to but separate from the information captured by theprimary data converter. The meta data source produces a deviceidentifier, time, date, location, and other data related to theinformation captured by the primary data converter into a meta data set.The source of the time, date and location information is a GPS receiver,a wireless receiver or another receiver. The source of the deviceidentifier is a read-only memory device. The data combiner andcompressor is capable of combining the output of the multiple sources ofdata (the primary data converter, the secondary data converter, and themeta data source) into a single data stream, and then compressing saiddata stream into a compressed data set such that the compressed data setrequires fewer transmission or storage resources than the uncompressedstream, but remains recoverable such that the original data from theprimary data converter, the secondary data converter and the meta datasource can be recovered without error. The symmetrical encryptor iscapable of using a key shared with another party to convert the datastream from the data combiner and compressor into a singly encrypteddata set that is unusable by any party other than the party that hasknowledge of the key. The one-way hash function is capable ofcalculating for the encrypted data stream from the symmetric encryptor anumber associated with said data stream such that (a) the numberrepresents the data stream, but the data stream is not recoverable fromthe number, and (b) that it is computationally infeasible to created asecond data stream that, when presented to the one-way hash function,produces an identical number. The communications port is capable ofsending the meta data and the hash to a second party. The communicationsport is further capable of receiving from a second party a certificatethat has the property of (a) being uniquely and verifiably identifiedwith the meta data and hash of claim 12, and (b) being verifiablyidentified as originating with the second party. The asymmetricencryptor is capable of converting the output of the symmetric encryptorand other data into an encrypted information packet that can be readonly by a specific second party by means of a pair of related butnon-identical keys, the encryption key and the decryption key. Thecommunications port is further capable of conveying the encryptedinformation packet to a second party. The storage facility consists of acommunications port, a device authenticator, an asymmetric decryptor, avalidator, a symmetric decryptor, a data expander and recovery device, atag generator, a mass storage mechanism, an asymmetric encryptor, and auser authenticator. The communications port is capable of receiving arequest from validation from the capture device. The deviceauthenticator is capable of verifying that the capture device isauthorized to use the storage facility and to create an authenticationcertificate such that (a) it is computationally infeasible to create asecond meta data set or hash that creates an identical authenticationrecord, and (b) the authentication record is uniquely identified withthe storage facility. The asymmetric encryptor is capable of using thedecryption key to recover the authentication certificate and the singlyencrypted data set. The validator is capable of determining if therecovered authentication certificate (a) was generated by the storagefacility, and (b) is valid for the presented hash and meta data. Thesymmetric decryptor is capable of converting the singly encrypted dataset into the compressed data set. The data expander and recovery deviceis capable of converting the compressed data set into the originalprimary data set, the secondary data set, and the meta data set. The taggenerator is capable of taking the primary data set, the secondary dataset and the meta data set and producing a set of index tags thatdescribe the primary data set. The tag generator in which the taggeneration is performed by a human operator. The tag generation isperformed by a speech-to-text function or by an image recognizer. Themass storage mechanism is capable of storing the primary data set, thesecondary data set and the meta data set in a way that the informationcan be retrieved based on the index tags. The user authenticator iscapable of receiving requests from access points and verifying theirauthority to perform retrieval operations at the storage facility.

The system can, at its most condensed version, comprise an asymmetricencryptor capable of converting data read from the mass storagemechanism using a public encryption key into a form usable only by aparty with knowledge of a secret key that corresponds to the said publicencryption key. The access point consists of an asymmetric decryptor, acommunications port and an authentication requester. The authenticationrequester is capable of identifying the access point and the dataelement or elements to be recovered from the storage facility in amanner that proves its authority to access said data element orelements.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for capturing image and audioinformation for storage in a database at a location on a network,comprising the steps of: interfacing a microphone with an external audioinformation source that generates external audio information andconverting with a first data converter the external audio informationfrom the microphone, interfacing a camera with an external image sourceto capture an image therefrom; the first data converter processing thecaptured external audio information and storing it in a first digitalaudio format as stored digital audio within the capture device, thecamera for processing the captured image and storing it as a storeddigital image; capturing with a data capture device, as captured data,location information and time information associated with at least thecapture of the image and storing the captured data as stored captureddata; combining with a data combiner for the stored digital audio,stored digital image and stored captured data as a composite data set;encrypting the composite data set as an encrypted composite data set;transmitting with a transmitter the encrypted composite data set to thelocation on the network; and wherein a system disposed at the locationon the network operates to: receive the transmitted encrypted compositedata set from the transmitter, decrypt the received encrypted compositedata set as a decrypted composite data set to provide the decryptedcomposite data set as a received set of decrypted captured information,converting with a system data converter the received digital audio inthe decrypted composite data set to a text based searchable file as atext context tag and creating an image recognition searchable contexttag with image recognition of at least a portion of the digital image inthe decrypted composite data set and associating the text and imagerecognition context tags with the digital image in the receiveddecrypted composite data set, and storing in the database the digitalimage in the decrypted composite data set in association with the textand image recognition context tags as a stored context based digitalimage and in association with the received captured data in thedecrypted composite data set.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thefirst data converter captures the first external audio information fromthe microphone during generation thereof.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the camera captures the image from the external image source atan instant in time.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first dataconverter processes the captured external audio information from a startevent representing the time that capture of the external audioinformation is initiated to a stop event representing the time thatcapture of the external audio information is complete.
 5. The method ofclaim 4, wherein the step of transmitting transmits the encryptedcomposite data set to the location on the network after at least thestop event associated with the processing of the captured external audioinformation.
 6. A method for capturing image and audio information forstorage, comprising: executing a capture operation with a capture deviceby the steps of: providing internal storage; interfacing a microphonewith an external audio information source that generates external audioinformation and converting with a first data converter the firstexternal audio information from the microphone, interfacing a camerawith an external image source to capture an image therefrom; the firstdata converter processing the captured external audio information andstoring it in a first digital audio format as stored digital audio ininternal storage within the capture device, the camera for processingthe captured image and storing it as a stored digital image in internalstorage; capturing with a data capture device, as captured data,location information, and time information associated with at least thecapture of the image and storing the captured data as stored captureddata; converting with a media data converter the received digital audioto a text based searchable file as a text context tag and creating animage recognition searchable context tag with image recognition of atleast a portion of the digital image and associating the text and imagerecognition context tags with the digital image and the captured data,and storing in the internal storage the digital image in associationwith the text and image recognition context tags in addition to thestored captured data.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first dataconverter captures the first external audio information from themicrophone during generation thereof.
 8. The method of claim 6, whereinthe step of capturing captures the image with the camera from theexternal image source at an instant in time.
 9. The method of claim 6,wherein the first data converter processes the captured external audioinformation from a start event representing the time that capture of theexternal audio information is initiated to a stop event representing thetime that capture of the external audio information is complete.
 10. Themethod of claim 6, and further including: transmitting with atransmitter associated with the capture device the composite data set tothe location on the network; wherein a system disposed at the locationon a network operates to receive with a receiver the transmittedcomposite data set from the transmitter associated with the capturedevice as a received set of captured information, provide a database,and store in the database the received composite data set.
 11. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the step of capturing with the first dataconverter processes the captured external audio information from a startevent representing the time that capture of the external audioinformation is initiated to a stop event representing the time thatcapture of the external audio information is complete.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the step of transmitting transmits the receivedcomposite data set to the location on the network after at least thestop event associated with the processing of the captured external audioinformation.
 13. A method for capturing image and audio information forstorage, comprising the steps of: providing internal storage;interfacing a microphone with an external audio information source thatgenerates external audio information and converting with a first dataconverter the external audio information from the microphone;interfacing a camera with an image source to capture an image therefrom;capturing with a capture device, as captured data, location informationand time information associated with at least the capture of the imageand storing the captured data as stored captured data; the first dataconverter processing the captured external audio information and storingit in a first digital audio format as stored digital audio within thecapture device, the camera for processing the captured image and storingit as a stored digital image; converting with a second data converterthe received digital audio to a text based searchable file as a textcontext tag and creating an image recognition searchable context tagwith image recognition of at least a portion of the digital image andassociating the text and image recognition context tags with the digitalimage and with the stored captured data; and storing in the internalstorage the digital image in association with the text and imagerecognition context tags in addition to the stored captured data. 14.The method of claim 13, wherein the image source is an external imagesource.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of converting withthe first data converter captures the first external audio informationfrom the microphone during generation thereof.
 16. The method of claim13, wherein the step of capturing captures with the camera the imagefrom the image source at an instant in time.
 17. The method of claim 13,wherein the step of converting with the first data converter processesthe captured external audio information from a start event representingthe time that capture of the external audio information is initiated toa stop event representing the time that capture of the external audioinformation is complete.